EAST LANSING — Tom Izzo was asked a little more than two weeks ago after a close win at Ohio State where his comfort level was with Michigan State BasketballIt is physical and mental strength.
“I’m growing up,” he said then. “I’m not there yet.”
On Sunday, the 12th-ranked Spartans once again showed progress in both areas. Late-match struggles from last season. From the beginning of November, they learned to play together. Even from that Jan. 3 road win over the Buckeyes.
MSU overcame a slow start, took the lead for good midway through the second half and withstood every blow from No. 20 Illinois. When things got tense late, Izzo’s veterans showed up with big buckets and even bigger defensive stops.
Shortly after Jeremy Fears Jr. threw the final deep pass to Carson Cooper for a last-second escape in the Spartans’ 80-78 win over the Illini, Izzo was asked the same question he asked in Columbus . And he replied again that they are “improving”.
“I thought we showed some mental and physical toughness and some character,” Izzo said Sunday. “When we were down, we were down, we were down, we were behind for 90% of the game it seemed like. And then once we had a little run, (the Illini) didn’t collapse either. So that makes two good basketball teams.
As well as perhaps the two best and most well-rounded teams in the Big Ten right now. Although after an epic battle reminiscent of ancient times – both in the physical tenacity on the field and the voracity of Izzone – Izzo was quick to point out: “We have challenges ahead of us, and us” I look forward to them.
“It was exciting, so I’m just going to get a big win,” he said. “I know we didn’t play very well, I know they had their moments where they didn’t do it either. But that’s what happens when two good teams play each other.
ANALYSIS: Something is brewing within MSU basketball. And it’s a bit like before
First-place MSU (16-2, 7-0 Big ten) extended its longest streak since winning 13 in a row during the 2018-19 season, a victory that catapulted these Spartans to a second of three straight Big Ten regular-season titles and Izzo’s final trip to the Final Four. And the hard-fought victory against the Illini (13-5, 5-3) allows them to win their first championship title since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, which Izzo’s players – none of whom were part of the program at the time. – designate as a rallying point.
“We know what we want to do,” said senior captain Jaden Akins, whose layup with 1:13 remaining helped stave off a final Illinois charge. “It’s something I’ve never done before. And it’s my last year, so I’m trying to leave with some equipment.
The Spartans rallied from an early 10-point deficit after putting Illini freshman star Kasparas Jakučionis in trouble from which he never recovered. The 6-foot-6 Lithuanian guard played just 8 minutes, 34 seconds before fouling out with 6:39 left after putting his team within two. The Spartans held Jakučionis to three points on 1-for-3 shooting with three assists.
“Coming into these types of games, I think it’s the little things that matter the most,” said senior forward Frankie Fidler, who scored Jakučionis’ fifth foul and two free throws as part of his total. 11 points, three rebounds and three assists. performance. “It’s a shame he got in trouble.” But I mean, it happens during the game. When we realized he had two or three, we wanted to go after him.
The Spartans also deployed various combinations throughout the game to slow down the rest of the Illini, becoming ultra-athletic to find themselves tied at 36 at halftime. After giving up 26 points in the first 12 minutes, MSU held Illinois to 10 in the final 7:34 before the break. The defense clamped down, forcing the Illini to miss 15 of their final 20 shots in the final 10 minutes after a 10-of-19 start.
“We held on and kept playing,” said sophomore Xavier Booker, who was in the end-of-half lineup. “We didn’t let the mistakes get to us. We didn’t let ourselves get discouraged. We just kept playing and kept playing and kept playing for 40 minutes.
“And that’s the main thing, the mental strength of this team. We fought for 40 minutes and it’s a great feeling to get this victory.
It showed again late in the game, when Illinois made one last point after a technical foul on the bench with 3:18 left and two Fidler free throws cut MSU’s lead to six .
Kylan Boswell and Morez Johnson Jr. both hit layups to cut the score to one possession with 1:53 left, then Johnson split a pair of free throws to make it 76-75 with 1:29 to play.
Akins took the ball to the basket off the dribble and made a tough shot with English in traffic after three straight Illinois defensive stops. Boswell responded with a bucket with 58.3 seconds left, Akins missed a tough layup attempt and the Illini rebounded. This time, the Spartans defense held, forcing Boswell into a turnover when his no-look pass to Tomislav Ivišić went out of bounds.
Tre Holloman, who led MSU with 17 points, hit two free throws with 5.9 seconds left to lead 80-77. The Spartans then fouled Boswell with 3.9 left to prevent a potential tying 3-point attempt. He made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second, grabbed the rebound on the baseline behind the backboard and attempted to shoot over the top. The shot was ruled illegal and the Spartans celebrated when Cooper recovered the Fears’ pass just past half-court.
A huge exhale. And even deeper inspiration as they look to the future, because this won’t be their last meeting.
MSU travels to Champaign for the rematch on February 15. This is one of three home-and-home games for the Spartans in the expanded 18-team Big Ten, with home and road games against No. 19 Michigan and a visit to Breslin of Minnesota on January 28. The Spartans opened the championship with an 18-point victory Dec. 4 in Minneapolis.
A stretch of coast-to-coast travel is also fast approaching.
Izzo’s team remains inactive until Saturday’s game in New York against Rutgers at Madison Square Garden (1:30 p.m., CBS). After hosting the Gophers, MSU travels to Los Angeles to face USC on February 1 and UCLA on February 4, then returns home to host No. 14 Oregon on February 8 and Indiana three days later.
Next comes the trip to Illinois, which begins a stretch of four of six games on the road. Knowing how tough the schedule is getting, Izzo remained cautious and didn’t heap too much praise on his players on Sunday.
Even if his sense of pride in their progress was obvious.
“It’s nice to see people react,” Izzo said. “It’s good to see them having to question their character a little bit and what they’ve done. …
“So I’m realistic. We still have a ceiling to reach, we have to get there. Because (the Illini) will also have a ceiling, and they will get there.
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
Subscribe to “Spartan Speak” Podcast for new episodes every week on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. During the 20-game regular season, find all our podcasts and our daily voice briefing on freep.com/podcasts.
This article was originally published on Detroit Free Press: Tom Izzo: Michigan State basketball gets tougher in win over Illinois
